“Powerful people are not the ones who come from powerful places, but it is powerful places that come from powerful people.” Yes, I just quoted a KGF dialogue, a movie about powerful figures and dynasties, but today I want to present the story of another powerful dynasty that has slowly built its empire from scratch and today stands as a name which, when heard, resonates with terms like unity, culture, and brotherhood. Today on Premise, through the pen of this writer, we take you to a dynasty of music and culture that bears the flag of Dehradun and represents it with the utmost pride: Team Evolution.
The Team Evolution we know today wasn’t always a team. Rather, it was a bunch of friends who dreamed of hip hop and performance arts evolution in the country. Combining that with their love for “Dev Bhumi” in 2007, Lakshya Khanduri, Agrim Kohli, Shardul Sharma, Upen Chaudhary, Tenzing Jungnay, and several more stunt riders came together to form “Evolution-The Gravity Flickers,” a stunt crew who performed stunts on non-gear scooters. In the mission of sharing their talent with a wider audience, they started uploading videos of their stunts, which can be found on the Team Evolution YouTube channel, with videos dating back to 2009, representing the origin of the Dehradun collective and their rich performance arts history.
“A constant in our journey is evolution itself.”
Beginning their journey with wheels in the air and stunting on the streets of Dehradun, with a desire to evolve into something bigger and to cultivate a wider performance art culture in the region, the gravity-defying crew shook hands with the up-and-coming underground art form of that time, hip hop, evolving into the name that echoes strong in the valleys of Uttarakhand: “Team Evolution.” They immersed themselves in hip hop and started showcasing graffiti, dance (B-boying, popping), rap, DJing, and other hip hop-related talents through their own built-from-scratch platform, helping creatives and artists reach a wider audience and, at the same time, spreading their wings into what at those times were uncharted territories but today stand as the main pillar of what Team Evolution is.
When a person indulges in the conversation of underground cultural hubs and hip hop, the names of places that pop up first in the mind are certainly almost Delhi and Mumbai, which is justified considering the major hip hop stars these places have given us, which has led to the growth of the music and concentration of the culture in those areas and cities. But a race always has a dark horse, and in the race of hip hop power struggle between the giants of Delhi and Mumbai, which often turns into heated situations between fans and sometimes warps artists into it as well considering certain recent events, it is in the strong belief of this writer that Uttarakhand is the dark horse in the hip hop power hubs. To even mention the name in this conversation would not have happened without the works of Team Evolution in promoting hip hop in the state and Dehradun.
The city of Dehradun harbours a tightly-knit community of artists who share an immense affection for their city. With a sense of brotherhood and a passion for honing their crafts together, the collective helps like-minded people and artists to connect with their platform, helping nurture the local Dehradun and Uttarakhand hip hop talent. These efforts of Team Evolution have shown their impact on the hip-hop culture of not only the state but also the country, which has been evident in the past few years, led by their group of musicians DAKAIT, 2FISTD, and Aniket Raturi. Under the banner of Team Evolution, musicians Aniket, DAKAIT, and 2FISTD have curated three prominent projects under the name of “Black Label Mixtapes,” and the trio’s first project together, “Meri Team,” released back in 2019, resides at the core of Team Evolution’s hip-hop journey. These projects not only represent the best of the collective but also serve as checkpoints and moments to be taken notice of when one goes through the history of Uttarakhand’s hip-hop history.
Taking things further and crossing the barriers of Dev Nagri, Team Evolution’s name has been heard around the peninsula with the big single "Dev Nagri" by DAKAIT and Aniket, which racked up more than 4 million streams and was also part of DAKAIT’s premise. Their featured and critically acclaimed debut album, "Dev Nagri Aur Main," was one of the finest hip hop projects of last year. Alongside, Aniket Raturi also keeps making the voice of Uttarakhand heard everywhere, recently giving the title track for hit TVF series “Sapne vs. Everyone” and another hit single “Dooriyaan” in collaboration with Kalam Ink, sitting on more than 3 million views on YouTube.
Team Evolution works as a horizontal organisation where every artist helps the other out, contributing to the vision of the collective in escalating the level of performance arts and hip hop music in Dehradun. Like the Night’s Watch of Game of Thrones, they are sworn in brotherhood and a deep love for their homeland, which they swear to protect, escalate, and represent through their art.
“Our focus lies on moving forward, not on what we’ll leave behind.”
“Evolution” is not only the term that the team represents itself with but also the term which they have chosen as their legacy, with a motive to move forward and not to focus on what they leave behind. The Dehradun-bred collective is a forward-looking crew which aims to pierce through standards and boundaries in front of them. Evolution is a word which is heavy in weight when spoken, but the real weight is felt when a person sets out to achieve it, and this exact challenge of breaking barriers and outdoing themselves has motivated Team Evolution to evolve into the regional cultural figure that they are today, an evolution of more than 16 years. As they move forward with a fire of authenticity in their heart which burns through their art and a will of the gods' valley in their fists to evolve further by any means possible, they stand together as one with “Real is rare” on their chests with pride.
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